Bean, Kentucky Wonder Pole

HEIRLOOM. Kentucky Wonder is a brown-seeded bean noted for its exceptional flavor and its heavy crops of 9" green pods, borne in clusters. Pods are oval, thick, gently curved, meaty and tender, and they're stringless when young. It's been proven tops for productivity, flavor and wide adaptability; it's delicious fresh, frozen or dried for shell beans. Pole beans yield much longer than bush beans, right up to frost. Plant 4-6" apart at the base of poles, trellis, a fence or our Bean Tower. A 2 oz. seed pack will plant a row of about 20 ft. or 10-16 poles.

Type
Some flowers and vegetables fall into subcategories that may define how they grow (such as pole or bush), what they are used for (such as slicing tomatoes or shelling peas), flower type, or other designations that will help you select the type of a class of plant that you are looking for.

Pole Snap

Days To Maturity
The average number of days from when the plant is actively growing in the garden to the expected time of harvest.

65 days

Fruit Size
The average size of the fruit produced by this product.

7-9 inches

Sun
The amount of sunlight this product needs daily in order to perform well in the garden. Full sun means 6 hours of direct sun per day; partial sun means 2-4 hours of direct sun per day; shade means little or no direct sun.

How to Sow

Because beans are members of the legume family of plants, they can benefit from an application of a soil inoculant designed for beans and peas, prior to planting. The inoculant will enable the plants to take nitrogen from the air to use as fertilizer, which can increase crop yield and quality.

Sow in average soil in a sunny location after danger of frost and soil has warmed, from spring to early summer. Sow after the soil has warmed, as seeds may rot in cooler soils.

How to Grow

In dry weather, keep soil well-watered. Plants need about 1 inch of rain per week during the growing season. Use a rain gauge to check to see if you need to add water. It’s best to water with a drip or trickle system that delivers water at low pressure at the soil level. If you water with overhead sprinklers, water early in the day so the foliage has time to dry off before evening, to minimize disease problems. Keep the soil moist but not saturated.

Cultivate or mulch to keep weed-free, but do not work or handle plants when leaves are wet.

Beans as companion plants: Planted closely in rows spaced around two feet, bush bean plants blend well with like-sized warm-season vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes and eggplants. Between towers of pole bean plants, planting vines such as squash can help keep weeds down. Pole beans can help protect cool-season vegetables such as spinach and lettuces, as the weather warms.

Harvest and Preserving Tips

For fresh use, pick pods as soon as well-filled out with peas

For dried bean use, harvest in about 80 days, when the pods start to dry on the plant.

To Dry Beans: Allow the beans to stay on the plants until they are partially dry. Then pull up the plants and hang them in a warm, dry place with good air circulation until the pods and seeds are thoroughly dry. Shell the beans and save the pods and plants for composting.

Product Details

Type

Pole Snap

Days To Maturity

65 days

Fruit Size

7-9 inches

Sun

Full Sun

Spread

18 inches

Height

72-108 inches

Sow Method

Direct Sow

Planting Time

Spring, Summer

Sow Time

After Last Frost

Thin

6 inches

Reviews

Bean, Kentucky Wonder Pole is rated
3.9 out of
5 by
22.

Rated 5 out of
5 by
suzer1013 from
One of the best tasting beans I've grown!These are wonderful beans! They took a while to produce, but once they started flowering, we've had a good yield. We love fresh beans, but our bush beans have not been as tasty as I remember from childhood, so I thought we'd try pole beans. Kentucky Wonder has a delicious nutty, buttery taste that your family will love. Even the picky eaters in our family love these beans. I can't wait to grow them again next year, and will plant more to try canning them for winter.

Date published: 2016-09-17

Rated 5 out of
5 by
Dave N from
Bountiful and reliable pole beanAlways plant this variety yearly. Very good production and flavor all summer!

Date published: 2016-08-30

Rated 1 out of
5 by
Looneylinda from
Worst bean I have ever grown.I bought these seeds because of a positive review a few years ago. There was never a time that they didn't have awful, thick strings. I canned them anyway because I needed beans but we ended up throwing them all out. Never again!

Date published: 2016-06-25

Rated 5 out of
5 by
jlghertner from
Nothing betterThe real deal in pole beans. too short a review but I have nothing to add

Date published: 2016-02-02

Rated 5 out of
5 by
BGarfield from
Growing like wildfire!Very happy to receive these bean seeds in the mail. Planted then next to Ruby Queen corn and both are doing fantastic! The beans are out growing the corn. The corn are about a foot tall and the beans are about 3 feet tall. I'm very happy with the results.

Date published: 2015-03-12

Rated 5 out of
5 by
INVT from
Great Heirloom Bean!These Kentucky Wonder pole beans are like my father and grandfather grew 50 to 75 years ago! They are prolific plants with many beans on each. Beans are easy to pull off plants and taste like the old days. I had poled on Indian corn and sweet corn, but next year would pole differently. Unfortunately, We had a lot of rain this year and beans did not do well under high humidity. Just one of those years!

Date published: 2014-09-21

Rated 3 out of
5 by
Zone6Guy from
Good taste but pick earlyThis is a very nice producing bean. I did a 6 ft fence structure, and they outgrew it by 2 or 3 feet. They produced really well until frost, but you must pick them early, in my opinion. If you don't you'll get strings galore. These are heavy strings too, and snapping and destringing won't get them all. I probably won't grow them again. I'll try Fortex next year.

Date published: 2013-10-26

Rated 4 out of
5 by
dirtyhandsPA from
Beanless In PennsylvaniaI have had great harvests with bush beans so I thought I'd give the Kentucky Wonder Pole Beans a try. They are eight feet tall, healthy looking BUT not one single bean, nope not one. I sowed them May 3rd, it is now July 6th so I would think I would see something that resembles a bean. Maybe I received a sterile pack ? I gave it a 4 star rating because I am sure this is not typical just disappointing.